Meet the Author

The FermentedlyChallenged blog has been retired since the end of October 2016. It has been a great 9 year run. Thanks to all the readers and brewery staff for all your support in the past. I'm living in the Denver metro area and working in the Cable TV industry now. Cheers and enjoy beer responsibly. Follow along on social media - @ChipperDave on Twitter and on Facebook.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Today is National Boss' Day. Suck up to the Boss today and do something nice for the one who has power over you (job wise). Sure, bosses can be tough to deal with sometimes, but don't pass up an opportunity to do something nice for them if not but for one day a year. Why not offer to take them out for a beer later on. You can always butter them up for a raise later. Here's what's happening around the Colorado beerosphere today Wednesday, October 16th, 2013. If you aren't reading this article on FermentedlyChallenged.com, you don't know what you're missing.

AC Golden (Golden) - [PRESS RELEASE] AC Golden Brewing Company announces a limited release of its Berliner Weisse, Checkpoint Charlie, in the Denver area. Checkpoint Charlie uses equal parts barley and wheat malt to achieve a delicate bready note the Berliner Weisse style is known for. The beer was brewed in December 2012, was left to naturally acidify for more than four months and then was bottle conditioned to fully achieve the perfect taste, aroma and mouthfeel. Part of the brewery’s Hidden Barrel Collection, the beer is being sold in 750 ml cork-and-cage bottles.

CB & Potts (Highlands Ranch) - Grat to the CB Potts team for their Gold medal at GABF for Big Horn Hefeweizen. They beat out 76 other entries to take top honors. The Highlands Ranch location was the only CB Potts that won a medal this year.Renegade Brewing (Denver) - Awards in the Imperial Stout category had one Colorado winner. Renegade took home a Bronze medal at GABF with their "Hammer and Sickle". Their 3rd place beat out 56 other beers in the same category. And soon, this big 9% ABV beer will be heading to cans! Hammer and Sickle will be the first seasonal can released by Renegade Brewing Company. The cans will be released the week of November 4 and will run until early March. Many beer drinkers tend to prefer stouts in the winter. Hammer and Sickle is jet black with a brown head. This beer has a warming quality with flavors of coffee, vanilla, and a dark chocolate finish. “Hammer and Sickle has been a taproom and staff favorite since we first opened,” says taproom manager, Laura Vande Zande. “On cold days it sells like crazy.”

Bull & Bush (Denver) - In the final category awarded medals at the GABF last week, Bull & Bush took home a Bronze medal in the Barley Wine-style Ale category for their "Release the Hounds Barley Wine" on Saturday. They competed in a field with 55 other entries.

Breckenridge Brewery (Denver) - If you happen to spot a "For Sale" sign outside of Breckenridge's Denver 70,000 barrel capacity brewery, don't be surprised. They recently put their property up for sale as they are preparing to build a new location at the new Littleton, CO location in 2014. It was earlier speculated that Crazy Mountain Brewing of Edwards, CO might be a potential buyer, but since they currently have a 100,000 barrel demand this property might not be able to accommodate all of their needs. Brewery locations are hard commodities to come by these days, so it probably won't be too difficult finding a buyer for this property. The Breckenridge location will also come complete with a lot of brewing equipment as well.

Odyssey Beerwerks (Arvada) - Their Discovery Beer tapping today is an encore of their Toffee Scotch Ale. It taps at 5:00pm. Plus they have a bit left of their Raspberry Chocolate ESB on Nitro. Ask for one before the keg is gone.

Colorado Cider Co (Denver) - Colorado Cider Company is putting the finishing touches on the first expansion of its Denver facility. The expansion for the cidery (founded in the fall of 2011) triples the company's annual capacity. It will help founders Brad & Kathe Page keep up with growing demand for their small-batch, full-of-flavor creations. The small, five-person company’s sales are up this year by 150% and have placed the cidery at capacity. To celebrate the expansion and mark its second year, Colorado Cider is hosting a party on Sunday, October 20th from 1-5 PM. The event is open to the public and will feature ciders from Colorado Cider, live music, and food from the Quiero Arepas food truck. Colorado Cider is located at 2650 West 2nd Avenue, Unit #10, in Denver. People can learn more about the cidery at www.coloradocider.com.

Wynkoop Brewing Co (Denver) - This Friday night from 6-9pm in LODO is Wynkoop's annual "Beers of the Year" celebration. It's also their 25th Anniversary to boot! They'll have every single beer they've offered this year on tap plus some dandies from their cellar dating back a few years. Tickets available at wynkoopbeersoftheyear.bpt.me.

Boulder County

Upslope Brewing (Boulder) - While none of their regular beers won medals at the GABF, Upslope did win a medal in the Pro-Am category along with homebrewer Derek Ordway for their Oatmeal Stout. This recipe was one of over 100 Pro-Am beers submitted into the competition at GABF. This 5% ABV brew is also now on tap over at Upslope Brewing for a limited time. Also, mark your calendars for Friday & Saturday, November 1st & 2nd - those are the days set for celebrating Upslope's 5th Year Anniversary Party. They will celebrate at their original Lee Hill location on Friday and at their new Flatiron Park location on Saturday. More details forthcoming soon.

The Very Nice Brewing Company (Nederland) - The brewery just placed their "Phunkin Monster" in the secondary. At 11% ABV and a malt bill compromised of 7 different varieties it lives up to its name. They want to say thank you for a Kick A** year and the best way they know how is with free beer! Very Nice will give away one FREE 10oz GLASS OF THE PHUNKIN MONSTER to each patron starting at 3PM, 10/26/2013 until a sixer (5 gallons) is gone. Normally responsibly sold for $6/10oz glass. Lots of other cool stuff as well. Caribou Mountain Collective will be appearing and raffle prizes as well.

Odd13 Brewing (Lafayette) - Odd13 Brewing has two varieties of their small batch of their hoppy stout still flowing. One with American yeast and another with Belgian yeast. See which one you like best.

Sanitas Brewing (Boulder) - Cask Black IPA will be available today when they open the taproom. It's described as having "smooth malts and bold hops in your face".

Northern Colorado

High Hops Brewery (Windsor) - High Hops Brewery in Windsor, Colorado will celebrate its one year anniversary on October 18th & 19th with special beer releases, local bands, games, door prizes and so much more. Join us in the fun and feel good that $1 from each pint of High Hops Beer will be donated directly to the Weld Food Bank. The celebration will run from 4-9 on Friday the 18th and from 1-9 on Saturday the 19th. The anniversary celebration will kick off on Friday with music from Blue Grama Bluegrass and Matt Skinner. The party will continue on Saturday afternoon with a basketball beer pong tournament, open mic showcase and live music from Carlton Pride of Carlton Pride and Mighty Zion and Michael Kirkpatrick of The Holler!.

Southern Front Range

Trinity Brewing Co (Colorado Springs) - This Saturday, October 19th at 11am they will release the last 180 champagne bottles of their 2013 Gold medal winning "Elecktrick Cukumbahh". Limit 4 bottles per customer. While supplies last.

Phantom Canyon Brewing (Colorado Springs) - The staff of Phantom Canyon Brewing Company wants to thank everyone for all your votes in the recent Best of Colorado Springs 2013 categories. They won Gold in BEST of for 4 categories including: Best Bar Patio, Best Banquet Hall, and Best Pool Hall! They took Silver in Best Wedding Reception! And Bronze as the Best: Central Restaurant.

Mountains and West

Ska Brewing (Durango) - Due to the Federal Government being shutdown, the TTB cannot approve new beer labels and that means that a ton of new beers aren't going to be able to be released nationwide. Ska has been planning to release a new beer called "Cru D'Etat", however, their application is locked up and isn't being worked on. Once the TTB and the Government does re-open, it will probably have at least a 90 day backlog of applications to go through. This new beer is an oak barrel-aged beer that can stick around in the barrel for at least another month. But if the shutdown lasts much longer could start affecting the quality of beer being released if they have to hold onto it longer than they anticipated.

Steamworks Brewing Co (Durango) - Chalk up another medal for Steamworks. Their "Slam Dunkel" won Gold in the German-Style Wheat Ale category at GABF last week. They beat out a field of 28 entries.

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Colorado Beer News is published on Fermentedly Challenged daily (Monday through Friday) with craft beer stories as they break from newsletters, emails and social media sites. This news is intended for audiences of legal drinking age (21+). If you'd like to subscribe to this daily by email, sign-up here. Please, always drink responsibly and use a designated driver.